Andrew Flintoff Biography from Biogs.com clear Andrew Flintoff was born on 6 December 1977 in Preston. Flintoff was first nicknamed Freddie by John Stanworth, the captain of Lancashire's second XI, when he was a teenager because his name was similar to Fred Flinstone. Andrew Flintoff hardly played cricket at his school, Ribbleton Hall High school, but played alongside his father and elder brother at Harris Park, and then joined St Anne's and batted number three in the year they won the league. At 16, Andrew Flintoff was snapped up by David Lloyd, then Lancashire's coach. His first class debut came against Hampshire in August 1995. It was not good. He scored 7 and a duck and he dropped 5 catches! The right-handed all-rounder made his test debut on 23 July 1998 against South Africa at Nottingham. But in spite of his natural talent Andrew Flintoff's cricketing career took a while to take off. He was overweight and unfit. Dropped from the England team in 2001 he determined to get into shape and dropped about two stone to around 16.5 stone.

Flintoff used the services of former Great Britain rugby league international Steve Hampson to help him improve his fitness. It worked and by 2003 Flintoff was justifying his reputation as a big-hitter and a dangerous bowler. But it was in 2004 that Andrew Flintoff really motored. He was named Man of the Series in England's 4-0 whitewash of the West Indies in the summer (the home leg), and was voted Player of the Year by the Professional Cricketers' Association in September 2004. Flintoff was also on stunning form in the one day internationals and was made ICC's One-Day Player of the Year in 2004. He had notched up 551 runs at the amazing average of 78.71 in one-day internationals and also took 12 wickets at an average of 20.50. In April 2005, Andrew Flintoff playing his first Championship match in nearly two years due to injury and test duties.

In the first innings for Lancashire against Worcestershire he scored a duck, but an 83 which included 4 sixes signalled that Flintoff was regaining form and fitness. In the second test of the 2005 Ashes series, Andrew Flintoff came up with an incredible performance in England's nail-biting victory over Australia. Man of the match, Flintoff scored an exciting 73 in England's meagre second innings total of 182 and then helped whittle out Australia with 4-79. England went on to win the 2005 Ashes and Flintoff was named as man of the series. Freddie was made BBC Sports Personality of the Year, 2005. Andrew Flintoff was also named as Wisden's world's number one player in 2005. Andrew Flintoff said: "I watched the Ashes as a kid and to be involved in it and play a major role in an England victory has been unbelievable". Flintoff and his wife Rachael have a daughter Holly and live in Knutsford, Cheshire.

In March 2006 they had a son, Corey, whilst Flintoff was in India captaining England - a role he took on when Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick were unavailable for selection. Flintoff guided England to a tied series 1-1. Freddie Flintoff came seventh in The Independent's list of Britain's happiest people. In September 2006, despite some worries over his fitness after his ankle injury, Andrew Flintoff was named as England's captain for the Ashes in Australia in the winter. The Australians won the Ashes back and worse was to follow for Flintoff when he was sacked as vice-captain in the World Cup in March 2007 after reports that he fell off a pedalo after drinking heavily in the early hours of the morning after England's first match defeat to New Zealand. Later in 2007, injury kept Andrew Flintoff out of the Tests against West Indies and, in October 2007, it was revealed that Andrew Flintoff is unlikely to play for England until summer 2008 after another ankle operation.

In July 2008, Andrew Flintoff was named in the 12-man squad for England's second Test against South Africa. It was 18 months since his last Test appearance. Nevertheless, Flintoff started the 2009 Ashes series , near to full fitness. On 15 July 2009, Andrew Flintoff announced that he was retiring from Test cricket after the Ashes series. In the Test at Lords that followed the announcement, in spite of struggling with a knee injury, Andrew Flintoff bowled superbly to help England beat Australia at Lords for the first time since 1934. England went on to regain the Ashes and the following day Flintoff underwent surgery on his injured knee. In September 2010, Freddie Flintoff announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. In March 2011, the BBC announced that in the summer Andrew Flintoff would co-present a sports show for BBC Radio 5 Live, Freddie's World Of Sport. In November 2012 Flintoff took up boxing and won on points against American Richard Dawson in a heavyweight fight.

Back to Top David Hopps: The demeaning of Andrew Flintoff | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo Andrew Flintoff's outburst against Michael Atherton only serves to tarnish the way we would like to remember him best. 83 Flintoff immediately embraced celebrity culture after his retirement © Getty Images How is retirement going so far for Andrew Flintoff ? There is cause for concern after reading his rant about Michael Atherton . Life after cricket might not be as happy-go-lucky as it appeared. As luck would have it, as this piece is being written, the television is showing Flintoff walking off at Lord's after a one-day match against West Indies in 2004. The sun is shining, the crowd is cheering and Flintoff, a younger, presumably more contented Flintoff, is beaming with delight as he raises his bat to the crowd. Life does not come much better than this. He made 123 off 104 balls that day, his highest one-day score, and a year later he was to win a nation's hearts as he helped regain the Ashes. He was the People's Champion: brave, honest, big-hearted, down to earth.

He was a man to rouse a dressing room, to play the game with indomitable spirit, to share a beer with when the fray was over. He was the stuff of dreams. Then came the injuries, the drinking, the enforced retirement at 31, nearly two years ago, and an immediate embracing of the celebrity culture that promised to make the most of his popularity. He has travelled the world as a TV adventurer, risking extreme sports and tracking exotic animals. It is probably swelling the bank balance. I wonder if it is bringing him true satisfaction? Judging from his unprovoked attack on Atherton, he is harbouring deep dissatisfaction. Fast forward from that sunny day at Lord's eight years or so to a story that first appeared this week in the Diary column of the London Evening Standard, a story that has since been eagerly adopted by agencies and newspapers around the world. Nobody has had time or inclination to investigate it very much. Nobody even knows whether he was provoked into saying it. Flintoff Slags Off Atherton: nothing more to be said. This is what the Londoner diary reported.

You might as well read it in the original, asterisks and all: "Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff was not mincing his words at the Sky TV party at The Oxo Tower on Tuesday night. Speaking to the Londoner, all his bonhomie turned to scowls when the subject of his erstwhile England colleague, former captain and now Sky TV and Times journalist Michael Atherton, came up. "He's a p***k," said Flintoff. "He's a f*****g p***k." Why so? "He sits there making judgments about players that are much better than he ever was, believe me, he's a p***k. "How can he talk about a player like [current England opening batsman] Alastair Cook who is 10 times the player he ever was -- he has a much bigger average and will go on and on. Atherton averaged in the 30s for England and yet he thinks he can judge others." Asked whether he minded saying this to a journalist, Flintoff, who was accompanied by his glamorous wife Rachel, said: "I don't care. Say what you like.

There's no love lost there." The intention is not to moralise, because many of us can point to the times when we have behaved in a manner we regret, especially in drink. Admiration for Flintoff's England exploits will pass into history and a few ill-advised outbursts are not about to change that. But Flintoff's boorish comments have become public property. His attack demeans him. He comes over as bitter and resentful, with very little cause. Quite rightly, Atherton has chosen to ignore it. And, most crassly of all, Flintoff timed his personal attack at a party at Sky TV - the very company where Atherton, again quite rightly, is held in such high regard as an insightful, fair-minded and scrupulously independent commentator, not to mention his numerous writing awards. Atherton understands sport. He is sought-after company. Flintoff's logic - that you are disqualified from criticising anybody who has a better Test record than you do - is hardly original. "How many Test wickets / runs did you get?" has ended more than one conversation from Ian Botham, to mention one of many. But it is facile for all that, a lazy substitute for intelligent thought.

It is a shrewd cricket journalist who recognises where the limit of their knowledge and experience lies, and acts appropriately, but to suggest that Atherton has a limited right to comment upon Alastair Cook (he questioned Cook's worth as a one-day player, an opinion he adapted as Cook responded to widespread criticism by taking his game to new levels) because Cook has a higher batting average is the most extreme version of this theory. Perhaps the Flintoff Rule could be introduced beyond sport into everyday life: architects could only be assessed by architects who had built more, or taller, buildings; brewers could produce whatever ale they pleased, free from debate, if they had brewed more barrels; and don't even dare to complain about the state of the roads if you have never laid tarmac. The Londoner diary speculated - and so did everybody else, for want of a better theory - that Flintoff's enmity might stretch back to 2006, when Atherton suggested quite reasonably that he did not think Flintoff was the right man to England captain.

Perhaps the Flintoff Rule could be introduced beyond sport into everyday life: don't even dare to complain about the state of the roads if you have never laid tarmac It was an honest assessment that Atherton had every right to make - indeed which his job gave him an obligation to make. As it happened, history proved him absolutely right. Flintoff was broken by the England captaincy, no more so than in a spectacularly failed Ashes defence in 2007. He slept behind the nets in Adelaide, turned up drunk for a practice in Sydney and ended the winter by falling off a pedalo during a failed World Cup campaign. Duncan Fletcher, then England's coach, felt so betrayed by Flintoff that he would have sacked him in Australia only to fear (without much cause) the media reaction. There is also a small passage in Atherton's autobiography where he refers to Flintoff's negative effect in the Lancashire dressing room, where they were both team-mates. "With the new brigade of promising cricketers such as Andrew Flintoff came agents, negotiations and contractual squabbles," he wrote. "His demands coincided with an end to the pay structure and thus harmony in the dressing room...

It meant the club capitulated weakly to the demands of someone who shouted the loudest." The passage touches on an uncomfortable truth, that since Flintoff's departure, the England dressing room is also a more united and professional place. But the reasons for this affair run much deeper. It is probably not as much what Atherton has said as something less easy to define: a stray phrase or expression, a different philosophy of life, a simple clash of personalities. It is a conflict between Atherton, an aesthetic figure as cricketers go, proud in his own beliefs and comfortable in his own self, and Flintoff, straight-thinking lad made good, who has come to need the world of celebrity and yet is somehow made empty by it. Atherton, a Cambridge University graduate, often agonises over a life given largely to cricket, but he has made the transition from player to analyst with his reputation enhanced. He commanded respect as a player but little public adulation, and he would not have known what to do with it if he had. As an analyst, he has few equals. And he feeds from nobody's trough. Flintoff not only received the adulation, he has built his life upon it.

Since retirement, he has lived on the fringes of cricket, playing out the mythical role of Fred. He has been a captain on sports panel shows, the celebrity face of Morrisons supermarket, a guest commentator (briefly) on the world darts championships. He was the star of Freddie Flintoff vs The World, in which, according to the promo, you could watch "cricketing legend and ultimate bloke Freddie Flintoff try his hand at some of the most extreme sports and challenges on offer around the world". It is lighthearted, harmless, knockabout stuff, not the sort of thing that Atherton would set his timer for. Nobody would ever call Atherton the "ultimate bloke". He could probably think of few tags more unwelcome. Flintoff has explored bat caves in Borneo, tracked wallabies in the Australian outback and gone mountain biking for a deodorant company. He has done pretty much everything but comment upon England cricket. If such an offer ever came along, he would also be expected to sit in judgement and to experience the same daily tensions that Atherton et al cope with every day.

As retirement beckoned, Flintoff lived in Dubai for 18 months, tax affairs in hand no doubt, before shifting back to England because he was "missing the English sunshine." When he moved to Surrey, he told Hello! magazine that he was missing the north. "Moving to Surrey is an adjustment in itself," he said. "I'm trying to get used to it, but I've always lived up north or in cities, so it's just as strange for me to be living in the country now." The programme that caused most discussion was Freddie Flintoff: Hidden Side of Sport, broadcast in January this year. The subject was clinical depression in sport, and during it Flintoff looked back at the low points of his own career and wondered whether in his lowest moments he might have been clinically depressed. It was a topic of conversation in dressing rooms and media boxes at the time. Few of those closest to him imagined that he had been clinically depressed. It is to be hoped that his mood as conveyed in the Evening Standard diary was exaggerated or only temporary. But as Flintoff has posed the question about himself in the past, it seems appropriate, as his rage against Atherton receives worldwide attention, to wonder about his welfare now.

The Flintoff of our memories should rightly survive into old age. David Hopps is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo © ESPN Sports Media Ltd. Freddie Flintoff: The Defence - The Full Toss Cricket Blog Freddie Flintoff: The Defence Cult heroes It seems like everyone’s been having a pop at Andrew Flintoff in recent days (including us). So in the interests of fairness, and the noble quest for true objectivity (if such a thing exists), we thought we’d give the other side of the argument. We’re not going to pretend that Freddie’s a teetotal intellectual with the tactical acumen of Michael Vaughan – or claim that he was right to have a pop at Athers – we’re just going to question the increasingly prevalent media view that he’s the devil incarnate (or at the very least, a plonker). For starters, Flintoff isn’t the first public figure to slag off another sporting celebrity. He won’t be the last either. Yes, it’s not particularly becoming for an ex-England captain to call one of his predecessors a ***t or a t***, but it’s hardly a cardinal sin. Us cricket types are just too bloody polite sometimes.

What’s wrong with calling a spade a spade? Freddy didn’t say anything we haven’t said about different sportsmen while watching in the stands. Some of the things I’ve said about Christiano Ronaldo would probably get me locked up. When James Cordon asked Freddy what Ricky Ponting was like on Sky’s A League of Their Own the other night, the audience erupted in laughter when he answered ‘a bit of a prick’. It seems harsh to give Freddy a kicking for calling Athers a nob, then cheer loudly when he describes a former Australian captain as something similar. Maybe us fans are guilty of double standards here? The public fell in love with Flintoff in 2005 because he seemed like an ordinary bloke. He wore his heart on his sleeve, gave 100% every time in ran in to bowl, and he defied the misguided stereotype that you had to be posh, eloquent and boast a first class degree from Cambridge to captain England. Nothing has changed really. The Flintoff we see on TV these days is exactly the same person. Yes he loves a drink. Yes he doesn’t always make wise decisions. And yes he’s probably said too much to the wrong people in recent weeks.

However, it seems unfair to criticise him for exhibiting exactly the same qualities that made him famous in the first place. When he got pissed off his face before the open top bus parade in 2005 the public celebrated with him. Why get arsy with him now? If indeed it’s true that Freddy is no longer welcome in the England dressing room then it’s sad. However, how many ex-pros (who haven’t been in the team for several years) are actually welcomed into Flower’s inner sanctum? Not many I wager – unless they’ve got particular tactical or coaching insights to give (which, let’s face it, Fred isn’t likely to offer). Indeed, few former cricketers who now enjoy media careers are welcomed with open arms by existing players. Just ask Simon Hughes. His excellent book Morning Everyone often mentions the fact that his relationship with ex-team mates changed once he started working on TV. Meanwhile, reports that Flintoff doesn’t have any mates left in cricket are well wide of the mark. He’s still great friends with Steve Harmison, and the relationship between Freddy and Kevin Pietersen seemed genuinely warm when they appeared together on A League of Their Own. Ditto Jimmy Anderson.

Yet the printed media had us believe that the relationship between Flintoff and KP has been frosty for years. The moral of the story is, ‘don’t believe everything you read’. People might not like some of the TV shows Freddy makes these days, but they’re no less vacuous than the majority of stuff we see late at night on ITV4. Besides, it’s hardly Freddy’s fault if some of the episodes are a bit naff. The shows weren’t his babies. He didn’t come up with the idea. He didn’t write the script. He’s just being paid a pile of cash to appear in them. Would you turn down the money if it was offered to you on a plate? I wouldn’t. Furthermore, Flintoff has actually been involved in one of the best sporting documentaries to appear on the BBC in recent years. The Hidden Side of Sport, which took a candid look at depression amongst professional sportsmen, interviewed the likes of Ricky Hatton as well as Harmy. It was insightful and served an extremely valuable purpose. Flintoff clearly came across as a caring individual, and I’m sure he won many friends in the game. Mike Yardy springs to mind.

Meanwhile, those who saw the programme will contextualise Fred’s own travails as England captain in a different way. He knows it was wrong to get drunk and fall off his pedalo, but he was under extreme stress at the time. Anyone who has gone through any form of mental illness will know that it’s difficult to make rational decisions when you’re depressed and suffering from anxiety. Real cricket lovers have a great sympathy with Steve Harmison for what he went through on that ill fated Ashes tour, so why not Flintoff? Both men were suffering greatly from anxiety. Marcus Trescothick returned home from that tour before it had even begun, yet he’s remembered fondly by everyone. Let’s give Flintoff some credit for toughing things out. I don’t personally know Freddie (or Mike Atherton for that matter). Therefore I’m not going to judge either one of them. They’re probably both genuine people. Alternatively, they could both be absolute ***ts. All I know for certain is this: just because they don’t get on – and that’s hardly a surprise given their vastly contrasting personalities – doesn’t make one of them an idiot and the other one a paragon of virtue.

For all we know, Atherton could be the more pretentious character, but is simply shrewd enough to conceal it. I really don’t know. The point is, it’s wrong to emphatically take sides when two people fall out, or jump to conclusions about what the root cause of the disagreement is (especially when that information is second hand). We all know that Freddy Flintoff isn’t an angel. But would the public have taken him to their hearts all those years ago if he was a goodie two shoes? All I know is that when I met him in person a couple of years ago he was courteous, professional and incredibly likable. He talked to everyone in the room like they were equals and put everyone at ease. Not all celebrities are like that. Freddy might well be a bit of a prat when he’s drunk – who hasn’t woken up the morning after the night before and thought ‘did I really do that, or say that? ooopps’ – but in my opinion that just makes him even more human; which is, after all, why so many cricket fans love him.

James Morgan England 'cheated' their way to Ashes glory in 2005 admits Andrew Flintoff | Daily Mail Online comments Cricket superstar Andrew Flintoff has sensationally said that England 'cheated' their way to an Ashes Test victory over Australia in 2005. The man nicknamed 'Freddie' was caught out by The Project host Waleed Aly when asked if England's use of 'gun fielder', Gary Pratt, instead of a regular team player was cheating. 'Yeah, yeah, of course it was,' said Flintoff. Scroll down for videos Was it cheating Freddie? 'Yeah, yeah, of course it was'. Andrew Flintoff admits on TV that England had cheated during the 2005 Ashes series when using a specialist fielder Ricky Ponting turns to exchange words with England players after he was run out during day three of the Fourth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge on August 27, 2005 The panel had been discussing last week's day-night cricket Test in Adelaide between Australia and New Zealand when the topic of substitute fielding came up.

Flintoff was asked about Australia's controversial decision to use team physiotherapist Grant Baldwin as a replacement fielder during the game after several players in the regular team suffered injuries. That led to a discussion about a 2005 face-off between Australia and England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. 'Remember in 2005 when you got that guy who wasn't a (selected team) cricketer but was a gun fielder and he just ran someone out,' said Aly. 'That was cheating wasn't it what you guys did?' asked Aly, to which the former champion all-rounder confirmed it was. Gary Pratt was an exceptional fielder and a solid if unspectacular left-hand batsmen and off-spinner for county Durham for six years from 2000. He never officially played for the English national team. Pratt was only brought onto the field as a substitute when England's bowlers needed a rest, a questionable tactic used by the home team throughout that summer. At a crucial point in the 2005 match Pratt ran out the then-Australian captain Ponting , who was on 48 and in top form.

The former England cricketer was discussing the use of the 12th man on the show when challenged by the host Waleed Aly if his side had been 'cheating' during the crucial fourth Test Flintoff reacted to the outcry in Australia over his admission with a tongue-in-cheek tweet suggesting he cheated because he 'bowled too fast and hit the ball too hard' Ricky Ponting was unhappy with the tactic and had approached match officials before the series to raise the issue of England's use of expert fielders, like Pratt as substitutes instead of a player selected for the team. He has always insisted that England's use of a specialist fielder was 'not within the spirit of the way Test cricket or Ashes cricket should be played'. Australia lost the match where Ponting was run out by three wickets and the series 2-1. Flintoff on Wednesday tried to back away from his admission, posting on Twitter: 'I cheated I bowled too fast & hit the ball too hard ,before knickers are twisted I appear to be joking'.

Read more: Professional cricketer Freddie Flintoff on fashion disasters and extreme TV shows | Daily Star Published 29th June 2015 Sporting clothes from his new range [[PH] This summer sees the 10-year anniversary of Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff’s starring role in England’s most famous Ashes victory over Australia. Freddie, 37, has since retired from the game he loves but with plenty of TV shows to his name, a new clothing range for Jacamo and a current stage tour recounting his cricket tales, he’s still a man in demand. TV Extra caught up with the star to hear about England’s chances in this year’s Ashes, what people shout at him in the street and why he’s had plenty of fashion disasters. “I had loads of fashion disasters in the past” Freddie Flintoff It’s 10 years since your iconic Ashes win. Have England got any chance of repeating that this year? I think England are showing signs of being alright. I wouldn’t say I’m confident about the Ashes. We’re still underdogs, but we could use that to our advantage. There’s no pressure; just go out and play.

That was what we were like 10 years ago. We thought we had a chance but nobody thought we would win. So we just went out and had a go. That’s what we used to play on back in the day – nobody expected us to win and we always used that to our advantage. You won the Australian version of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! earlier this year. How did that happen? It was bizarre. They kept on asking and I kept on refusing, then I let my guard down for a minute. I wanted everyone around me to say, “Don’t do it.” But nobody did. I said, “Yes” on the Monday, then on Saturday morning I was sat in the jungle! It was the easiest job I’ve ever had. I just sat there doing nothing, thinking, “I’m getting paid for this!” I felt like I was robbing the money because you don’t do anything. ‘I like the opportunity to do things that I’m not sure I can do’ [PH] You’ve done more “extreme” things for TV though. What was the toughest? The boxing was hard. I’m not a fighter.

I don’t like punching people and I don’t like being punched but I like the opportunity to do things that I’m not sure I can do. I like being outside my comfort zone. The travel stuff isn’t ever hard; it’s amazing. It’s nice to get the chance to do them as TV things but, as a life experience, to go and spend time with the Masai is like a dream come true. Is your 2nd Innings tour another thing that’s outside your comfort zone? When you’re three minutes into a 10-minute story and you realise its going wrong, it is such a horrible feeling! It’s fun now because we know what we’re doing. It’s a cricket theme but not really. It’s some of the stuff that happened in the dressing room and stories about taking too many Viagras before playing! I really enjoy doing it. You’re certainly popular outside of cricket these days. What do people usually want to talk to you about? A lot of people shout “Jacamo”, “pedalo” or “10 Downing Street” at me. It’s never cricket – it’s always a drunken story! Speaking of Jacamo, you’ve got a new collection out.

Did you ever think you’d have your own clothing range? I remember when we did it for the first time. We sat down and went through a few things and it was just weird, going through clothing. I do so many things and I think, “How have I got into this?” It is a reflection of things I’d wear. So it’s not cutting-edge fashion, it’s for people going down the pub. And there’s a bit of everything. Have you had any fashion disasters in the past? Loads! In my early 20s, I went shopping with the lads and we were in Armani in Manchester. They talked me into buying this shiny, silver jacket and it was awful. I wore it the first night and they just ruined me. I didn’t even take it home; I put it in the bin because they sent me up a treat! Freddie’s Collection “Flintoff by Jacamo” is available at Jacamo.co.uk . Tickets for Freddie’s 2nd innings tour are available at andrewflintoffofficial.co.uk .

Related articles Andrew Flintoff has talked openly about his battle with bulimia | Daily Mail Online comments England cricketing hero Andrew Flintoff has revealed how he battled with bulimia in the early stages of his career. The 34-year-old told how he began throwing up in cricket grounds and restaurants after he piled on the pounds. Flintoff, who has embarked on a sporting comeback as a heavyweight boxer, revealed his eating disorder in a documentary to be screened later this month. Battle: Andrew Flintoff has spoken of how he battled bulimia in his early cricketing career as he strove to lose weight. He is pictured as a younger man, left, and last week, right, having leaned up for his pro boxing debut Honest: Former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff, left with wife Rachael, and right tucking into a curry during his playing days, has revealed how he suffered from Bulimia He said: ‘I used to be a really skinny kid, I used to be tall and skinny and I didn’t drink, I didn’t do much. ‘Then I started putting weight on. My lifestyle was great, granted, when I started living on my own.

I got to about 19 and a half to 20 stone. ‘It was all a bit deeper than that because to lose the weight, I wasn’t really sure how to go about it. I started being sick, I was sick a lot. I would eat and I would be sick. More... Share this article Share ‘I would be doing it myself. I would put my fingers down my throat and everyone within the team hierarchy thought it was great because I was losing weight.’ Flintoff showed off a slimline new physique at the Pride Of Britain awards last month as he posed with wife Rachael after shedding 30lbs in the preceding seven weeks Flintoff, who was instrumental in two Ashes victories against Australia, said he was often called ‘fat lad’ and faced jibes such as ‘who ate all our pies?’ He added: ‘I’ve thrown up in cricket grounds around the world, in restaurants, all sorts, and I lost about 15kg by doing that. ‘It’s not the right way to go, which I am very aware of. You start off doing it if you have a bad meal, you eat something you don’t think you should have eaten or you have drunk too much.

‘Then before you know it, even good meals you are getting rid of. It becomes a real habit. The only way really to lose weight is to train more and eat less, eat the right things.’ Lean and keen: Flintoff, left, poses for a shot during his boxing training, and right, sporting a 'fuller figure' during his playing days All change: As he embarks on his new sports career as a boxer, Flintoff has revealed he used to have serious issues with food He hopes that speaking about his battle will raise awareness about bulimia. A spokesman for the National Centre for Eating Disorders said: ‘It is well known that men get eating disorders, too – look at John Prescott (Mr Prescott revealed he had suffered from bulimia during his time as Deputy Prime Minister). This is a condition more likely to occur in someone who has poor body image or shaky self-esteem.’ The documentary Flintoff: From Lords to the Ring, to be screened on Sky1, details the sportsman’s career change from cricket to boxing. Flintoff also uses the programme to criticise former England team-mates who have since taken up careers in cricket commentating.

He said: ‘I could have taken the easy option, saying ‘‘Coming into bat for England at No 3’’. But no, I go and get my head kicked in instead.’ Flintoff has been criticised for entering the sport of boxing as a ‘publicity stunt’. Out in the open: Flintoff often received criticism from rival supporters over his weight as a professional cricketer - and now he has revealed how deep the problems went But the cricketer, who lost 45lbs during a gruelling four-month training camp filmed for a three-part series to be screened on Sky1HD, insists his motives are honourable. ‘You couldn’t go through this for a TV stunt,’ he said. ‘I’m hoping this is something where boxing is celebrated.’ Flintoff was born Andrew but nicknamed ‘Freddy’ after Fred Flintstone. He married Rachael Woods in 2005 and has three children – Holly, eight, Corey, six, and Rocky, four. He announced his retirement from cricket in September 2010. He is not the only sportsman to suffer from bulimia.

Footballer Paul Gascoigne detailed his battle with the condition in his 2006 autobiography ‘Being Gazza: Tackling My Demons’. Piers Morgan’s Life Stories Episode 2 - Winning the Ashes in 2005 and his drunken visit to 10 Downing Street. - Meeting the Queen. - How and why he bathed his privates in iced water! Professional cricketer Freddie Flintoff reveals how he suffered from Bulimia. During an interview with Piers Morgan for Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, which will air on ITV on Friday 12th September, Freddie said: “I can’t remember the first time (I made myself sick) but I did it when I had eaten something which I thought I’m going to put weight on with this, or I had too much to drink, that’s when it started.” He continues: “Then it slowly crept in more and more. I remember we had this chat, the England team were sat down and you get this drugs advisor coming in to tell you about drugs in sport. One by one they come, these different people.

There was a woman who was a dietician and she started saying about diet and how she dealt with models, actors and athletes who have had eating disorders, I thought I can have a chat with her afterwards and then she said ‘but I can’t imagine there is any of that in here’ so I thought I can’t say anything now. I was on tour in India and I was doing it a lot. I was doing it at lunchtime, I would come off (the pitch) have something to eat and then I would go and bowl again.” Piers: “You’d come off and you would eat and then you would make yourself sick in the middle of a match?” Freddie: “I’ve done it at lunchtime a few times. In India I would have a curry and naan bread and then end up in the toilet.” Piers: “And how would you be feeling when you did this, like it was a dirty secret that no one could know about?” Freddie: “Yes I was cautious, you looked to see if there was anybody in the toilet with you and then you would find somewhere to go.

I thought I couldn’t really tell anyone because of the world I was in, professional sport you don’t want to give anything away, you almost want to come across as being bullet proof, and that was part of my make-up. Piers: “Do you feel any sense of shame you were doing this?” Freddie: “I think so and then for a while it came routine. We saw on the VT there was that piece I think in The Sun newspaper were there was Lennox Lewis on one side who was World Champion at the time and a hero of mine, and on the otherside there was me, not in quite as good of shape. It had Lennox Lewis reaches whatever in inches and it had me, reach for the pies.” Freddie talks about the night he capsized a pedalo after a late night drinking session, not long after his England side had been trounced in the 2006/07 Ashes series. Freddie explains he didn’t know what he was thinking: “I think I was asking myself the same questions, what are you doing?” Piers: “What was the answer in your head?” Freddie: “You know what, I don’t know.

We’d played New Zealand on the Friday, the first game of the World Cup and things hadn’t being going well. We’d just come off the back of the Ashes (2006) and I was so desperate to do well in this World Cup. I went out, I got a duck, out first ball actually and then I didn’t get a wicket and then we got beat. I went back to the hotel room and some of the lads were going out afterwards. I thought you know what I’m not going out but I was in my room, I was smashing the room up, I was gutted and then I thought you know what I’m going to go out for a bit. He continues: “I went to this bar called Limeys in St Lucia on the corner and ordered a rum punch. About 1.30am I thought you know what I’m hammered here, go home. So I walked back and to get from the reception of the hotel to my room I had to walk partially across the beach.

For some reason I had this idea these boats out to sea, it sounds bizarre but I knew Ian Botham was on one (boat) and I thought you know what I’m going to have a night cap with Beefy. I thought I can’t swim as that would be dangerous, so I was going to get a kayak but I couldn’t find the oars so I dragged this pedalo into the water. As I was doing it I was getting jolted around and waves were breaking and I couldn’t get on it, not through the lack of trying and then I fell in and just let it go. A security guard got me and took me to my room. The next morning I woke up, I was on my bed and I’m still wet and I’ve got sand between my toes. Then the door knocked, the door had these slats and I thought it was the maid wanting to clean the room so I said ‘can you come back’ but it was the coach. I pulled the slats down and answered the door and then Duncan just said ‘my room now’.” Piers: “And he was the team coach?” Freddie: “Duncan Fletcher, yes.

So I went to the room and dissected it and went through it all. Some of the details were exaggerated but I wasn’t in a position to argue. Freddie continues: “The one thing that really hurt was I got banned from that game on the Sunday. I’ve missed a lot of cricket through injury which you can’t do anything about, when I got banned, it was a real low point and I welled up and I had to face the Press. I had this press conference and I walked across the hotel reception and the England fans who were only a months previously cheering my name and high fiving me when I walked amongst them they were shaking their heads. I couldn’t make eye contact with them and I thought this isn’t good.” Freddie speaks to Piers about winning the 2005 Ashes and what happened after when he visited 10 Downing Street after a heavy night on the beers. Piers: ‘It was one of the greatest sporting triumphs, certainly in my life time and also one of the greatest benders in the history of sport that you led the team on. Do you remember much about it?” Freddie: “Bizarrely I have flash backs.

At the end of that test match we couldn’t believe it, it was a party atmosphere at the Oval. We were surrounded by people and I had no idea what effect it was having on people. I was so wrapped up in it all and enjoying it so much, I didn’t want it to end. I wanted another 5 test matches in that series, I wanted to keep playing. When we got off and we were sat in the dressing room it was like, we have just won the Ashes there how good is that. I was sat with Steve Harmison, one of my best mates in the corner of the dressing room and I got a cigar and a beer and he’s got the Ashes and we just started having a few. Piers: “Well you certainly had a few, I’ve got the full itinerary here. 6.15 (pm) the game ends, champagne and beers until 10(pm), hotel bar at 10.30(pm) more beer, 12am Soho Club Prophecy.” Freddie interrupts and says: “No, not me I didn’t leave the hotel.

A lot of the lads went off into town.” Piers: “And they went to this Club, Prophecy and ran up a £34,000 bill, you remained in the hotel bar at 5.45am, gin and tonics followed by vodka and cranberry.” Freddie: “Healthy.” Piers: “7am Rachel (his wife) puts you in a bath and dresses you, 10.30am Mansion House the Lord Mayors reception, Freddie trips and gets on the bus to Trafalgar Square drinking champagne directly from a bottle presumably to save time, 1.30pm 10 Downing Street where you require warm wine, you swing on Leo’s (Tony Blair’s son) swing, you ask Cherie where the loo is, your’re thrown out of the Cabinet Room for pretending to be the Home Security.

We then believe you may of thrown up in the garden and you are accused Andrew Flintoff of urinating on the Downing Street flower bed.” Freddie: “It doesn’t sound as good when you put it like that.” Piers: “Do you remember your conversation with Mr Blair?” Freddie: “I didn’t have a conversation with him, I didn’t speak to him, I was on the swing.” Piers: “Leo’s swing.” Freddie: “Yes Leo’s swing. The house is amazing, from the front it looks like a terrace but it’s massive. We went in the garden and there was a function going on and I just stayed out of the way, sat on the swing and then I needed the toilet. I did ask Cherie were the loos are and I went for a wee and then I went exploring round the house. I thought I’m never going to get the chance again, it’s like Through The Keyhole this, its amazing.

I was sat in the Cabinet Room and I thought this is so good, I was sat and I had my feet on the table.” Piers: “So you had sneaked in there?” Freddie: “I was playing Prime Minister I wasn’t playing Home Security, I was playing the big one and I had a bottle of Becks in my hand and my feet on the table and I was hosting my own meeting (he then points) what about you Ministry of Defence what have you got to say.” Piers: “So you were on your own?” Freddie: “Yes, I’ve got a great imagination. We were having a frank discussion about the budget. At that point the security guard comes in, he says ‘alright Fred you’ve had your fun now get off’, I was like alright guilty as charged. I got put down back to where everyone was drinking and then we came outside 10 Downing Street. We stood outside and all the photographers are out there taking pictures of the team and I’m stood next to Kevin (Pietersen). There was one person worse than me and Kevin, Matthew Hoggard. You don’t want to be next to Hoggy when he is sober never mind when he is drunk.

He was stood next to the Prime Minister and he was just trying to make small talk, Tony Blair says ‘ what are all these people doing here’ and Hoggy turned round and said ‘ for you, you are the Prime Minister you knob’ and I was like no Hoggy and then we got whistled out back on the bus and shipped off to Lords.” It was a very proud moment when Freddie met the Queen, and he remembers what The Queen said to him: “Yes we got to the queue and the Queen has got this amazing aura about her, you drive into the Palace and then she is there. I got to the front of the queue and you have got to walk forward and you’re not quite sure what to say or how to behave and she said ‘you kept us on the edge of our seats’ and I said ‘thank you mam’, she said ‘you kept us guessing’ and I said ‘yes’.

Then afterwards at the drinks reception she came over and I had a share in a race horse as well and she said ‘ I see you’ve got a runner at Carlisle tomorrow, has it got a chance?’ I said ‘yes its worth a couple of quid your Majesty’, it was unbelievable.” Piers: “Your horse was called Flintoff?” Freddie: “Yes it was fat and slow.” Talking about being hit in the privates Piers asks Freedie: “There was a moment when you played cricket early on for Lancashire for one of the more junior sides and you got hit somewhere that no cricketer likes been hit.” Piers: “Correct.” Freddie: “I was seventeen and I was playing against Hampshire. The thing with cricket equipment is that over the years the pads, the gloves, everything has moved on, the box which protects your thing hasn’t, it’s like a soap dish. It offers no protection and I got hit in there,its got these holes like air vents and everything that should have been outside where seeping through these air vents, it wasn’t good.

Luckily it rained and we came off and David Lloyd who was my first coach for Lanchashire, England and somebody I look up too and respect, he suggested bathing them in iced water. So I was seventeen, I was sat in my dressing room and I’m sat on the edge of my chair and I’ve got them… (learns over with his hand over his private area) Piers: “In a glass of iced water?” Freddie: “I was going to say dangling but that would be bragging. They were in the iced water and then one of the players Gary Yates for some reason had been doing some training. He came in and said ‘I’m a bit parched, has anybody got a drink’, I was like should I… yeah and poor Gary necked the lot. He went out to bat and in the same game the announcer who had found out said ‘we’ve got Gary Yates coming up number 8 for Lanchashire he has been refreshed by one of Freddie Flintoff’s cocktails’, yes a proud moment.”

Question: We know the famous cricketer as 'Freddie' Flintoff. What's his real first name?
Answer: Andrew